Sumbong sa Pangulo website’s flood control locations wrong, manipulated

This flood control project in Hernani, Eastern Samar is tagged by residents as a possible “ghost project” but some public works officials say its construction has only been delayed. —NEIL CHRISTOPHER TAN/CONTRIBUTOR

MANILA, Philippines — The location data of flood control projects on the Sumbong sa Pangulo website were found to be inaccurate on purpose to mislead authorities, according to Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon.

This was the response of Dizon when asked to confirm claims from a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing that the coordinates posted on the website were inaccurate.

“That is confirmed. I confirmed it myself. I went to the ground many times already and most of the times, when we use the coordinates, they take us to the wrong places,” Dizon said in an interview with broadcasters Ted Failon and DJ Chacha on Monday.

READ: DPWH personnel ‘destroying, tampering’ flood control documents

Dizon said that it seems that DPWH personnel learned to manipulate and cheat the system that generates the coordinates. With this, he added that he will look into the manipulation and how this will be corrected to avoid further inaccuracies in the future.

He added that once the manipulated figures are corrected, he will include them in the transparency portal to be launched by his agency.

“Once we fix and correct this and we prevent the cheating, all the Sumbong sa Pangulo website and transparency portal will be put in place,” he said.

Dizon also said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was displeased when he found out about the inaccurate coordinates. When asked who would be responsible for it, Dizon said that he had yet to find out.

Transparency portal

Dizon likened the agency’s soon-to-be-released transparency portal to the Sumbong sa Pangulo website.

READ: Bulacan folk: ‘Corruption took away our farms’

“They are very similar because first, it does not just cover the flood control projects. This will all cover projects of DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) – roads, bridges, classrooms, flood control and other DPWH projects,” he said.

He noted that he will check the portal’s initial design this week.

“The public can expect that we will release this within the next two weeks,” he added. /apl